You have entered a world of Candy. Go ahead, eat all you want! Yeah, right... . Monsters fly through the air and lurk in the shadows. All of them waiting to spring upon you while distracted by the candy that surrounds you. Will you survive, or were you lured here to be a snack for the Monsters? This is the world of Nikwi. Nikwi is an arcade/platform game, of the 2D variety, wherein you play as a 9 year old boy whose name is... Nikwi!

The player's role is to navigate Nikwi through 30 levels by jumping up, down, and across candy and monster laden... um... platforms, eating the candy while avoiding the monsters. The "arrow" keys on your keyboard are all of the game-controls required for moving Nikwi about in his adventures - this simplicity added to my enjoyment of the game.

Nikwi offers appealing and crisp visuals for the platform gamer. In this game you will find an excellent attention to details- the walls appear as layered chocolate-chip cookie dough and other delights, there is attention to light and shading on the candy, and the monsters are comically grotesque. As the game progresses, the candy-themes change - you'll see detailed environments of chocolate, waffle-cones, peppermint - the list goes on and on. I enjoyed the well-rendered graphics in this game, and for this reason alone, the game is worth a look.

The sound environment in Nikwi is a bit sparse. When a button is pressed in the menu, as you come in contact with candy, and as Nikwi meets his doom you will hear standard platform-esque in-game sounds. I admit some surprise that there was no musical serenade at the completion of a level. The Monsters tend to be quiet and there was no "Nikwi Theme Music"; just the afore mentioned "beeps" and "bloops". None of this detracts from game-play, though given the crisp visuals, I had anticipated more sound.

One reason I never became a big fan of Platform games is the fact that when your character dies or when your frustration tolerance goes down the tubes, you're back to screen one. Nikwi offers the player a password every third level (write them down!) and with the password you can return to that level whenever you choose. This beats starting from scratch!

One thing I enjoyed about Nikwi was the complexity it offered. The complexity increased at a comfortable rate. The game offered quite a challenge at times and required good hand-eye coordination and precise timing in order to keep Nikwi alive. Mastering all 30 levels will certainly prove a challenge: Nikwi has only one "super-power" at his disposal. Good luck!

Overall, Nikwi is an OK game - if you are a fan of platform games, Nikwi comes at a reasonable price and worth more than a passing glance. So, for all of you Classic 2D Retro-gamers, I doubt you'll find yourself disappointed with Nikwi. For those of you that might consider testing the waters of the platform arena - well, the price for the full version of Nikwi is very reasonable and you will receive a good introduction into the world of platform gaming.